I started a job this week working in town for a vacation rental company. They have access to over 100 homes to rent beach front and lake front. I am working for the Housekeeping Department as a Check In Girl Person. I’d like to share a few things over the coming weeks that I have learned and implemented into our own home.

The first is – the Check List. This weekend, after the company has gone, the camping gear has been brought in, the fire works spent and the potato salad reaches the last day edible . . . Take a quiet moment to walk around your home with a clipboard, hard backed spiral. If all of the children are gone, it would be easier.

Make a list – a surface list – of what it would take in each room to “right” it again. Not the deep spring clean or the inspection type clean, – is there furniture that needs moved back? Fireworks in the yard? Compost over full? Extra garbage? Towels in a pile? A simple list.

Now – go through the house and fix everything on the list – remember – it’s quick, right the chair, move the towel. If your children are older, slice up the list and give a piece to each of them.

What I’ve found is focus.

This past week I saw a box of dry erase markers on the fire place mantle. I walked over to pick them up, and saw that the candles were out, so I put the candles away. Then I saw the top of the “pretties” cupboard was dusty so I went to dust it. Then I saw that the rag pile needed laundered so I switched the laundry, and then I saw I needed to fold shirts for hubby. I came back with the rag and forgot the cupboard and dusted the mantle instead, but then remembered I was dusting the pretties and went back in there. Get the general idea? It was 45 minutes later that I finally got around to picking up the dry erase markers and moving them to the other room. Hubby was smiling, knowing yet baffled. I asked if he ever came home to me being exausted and he asks what I’ve done all day and I say something sad like – I put the dry erase markers away – he’ll know now what that entails. Ha.

The clipboard – gives me focus. What caught my eye the first time through the room gets written down. Handing the clipboard to another helper makes it even less personal. They will do the task of moving the markers.

Everything in our home is so personal – the person who left the item out – the need you had for it – will you use it later today – on and on – personal emotions to cleaning. The clipboard seems to take that away.

My quick Forth of July advice ? Find a check list, create one for your house, find or purchase a clipboard – you’ll find that taking the emotion out of the clean up makes the task go faster. When I’m sprucing up vacation homes – I have no idea who left the cereal bowl in the bedroom, I just pick it up.

I’ll write more about what I’m doing, I love the new job – and share more tips with you. Have a happy Safe Patriotic Independence Day. We are free to share the Gospel of Christ. We are free to homeschool. Free to live independently. Free to write blogs. How thankful are you that we were born in this generation of being able to do anything we want to do?

Congratulations on the new job – glad you love it! I can so relate to the stream of consciousness clean-up. I’ve spent hours on picking up one little thing because it practically led to a scrubdown of the entire room! Checklist. I’ll have to ponder that. You’re right – there are emotions to cleaning. Great post!

Great idea! I need to find a way to train the children to see what is out of place. My main frustration is asking them to pick up a room and they don’t see anything. Maybe I could get bright orange post its and let them take turns applying them to what is out of place.

+Angie Wright

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